


The Paracosm: Part 1

by Chrissybot



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 05:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3162767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chrissybot/pseuds/Chrissybot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not long after the events on Gauda Prime, Avon, Vila, and Orac find themselves freeing an alien terrorist from prison to help them get back at the Federation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Paracosm: Part 1

It is a bleak landscape for this time of the year on the planet Biomenae, but then the system of Proxima Centauri is a bit bleak itself. Bright neon-lit cities can be seen scattered across the small satellite from space. The distance in between the lights are home to a cruel and unforgiving land that, though beautiful with flora and fauna, these aspects are deadly to the unprepared.

“Where are we off to now?” Maya had asked in a defeated tone. Brell, the man driving the ATV over the long road ahead, gave her a rather putout side glance. He had been sent in as back-up to the ‘meeting’ due to his intense mistrust of outside influences, even though he himself was an 'outside influence.' He thought about Maya's question for a moment, “To be honest? I’m hoping somewhere relatively safe and that will get us back on track after that whole shit-mess fiasco of a failed mission. We learned nothing and ended up with more casualties.” She knew that tone. It was the same tone that Ruan, Brell’s father and their teacher in basics all of those years ago, would give them when he was dissatisfied with a tactical performance. Ruan and Brell had come here many years ago in an effort to hide from the Terran Federation who was hunting them for their crimes. They had discovered Biomenae by accident, or rather the planet had discovered them. Their ship, the Narkissos, was able to make it as far as the edge of the Beyond just before running out of fuel and life support. Maya had been the active Seneschal to the city of Western Lights when their distress signal came in. They were taken in and given a new home. New life.

Maya, now in her prime, had been recruited at an early age for the Biomenics Cyber Elite Program, or the BiCEP as it was nicknamed, and was genetically and cybernetically enhanced as many of Biomenic population had been. Most of the planet’s sentient inhabitants had an odd habit, magic even, of being able to control reality to a certain degree and through centuries this caused mayhem, and war. Most of the distress from using such power came in the form of eventual madness to the individual. The disease of insanity was widespread and death took her numbers in stride. As time passed and the technology improved, the scientists where able to place dampers in those who had been predetermined to take advantage of their abilities. Maya was thought of at a young age to be one who might, but is able to keep it in tow and lead a somewhat normal life with the help of her involvement in the program.

She stared ahead blank-faced and gestured a wave, “We have to try again. This time with more men and better planning. We need those men! It was Simon’s ego that led to launching the assault early and damned twenty good soldiers.” Brell said nothing, but puched the gas pedal hard and over the ridge they sped on to their destination - The Narkissos; a small craft to hold at least ten, and decked out in comparable hardware since its landing all those years ago. It was fast enough to escape a small flotilla of cruisers if they had to. They’ve had to before. Maya grimly asked Brell, “So, it’s Earth then?” He drove on and skid the vehicle to a halt about a quarter mile from the ship. He smirked, “That’s where the rest were taken, though why I don’t know. If I had to guess, I would say that your people have just been sold to outsiders who discovered what you can do. There is a rat, if not many rats, among your kind. If we fail this time it will be the end and you can consider yourself slaves if they come here to seal the deal.” Brell shuddered at the thought as the two made their way to the small warcraft. He pressed a button on a small remote as a side hatch slid open. Another press of the button would start the engines. The steps of their boots gave an eerie beat with the hum of the craft and the hatch door closed behind them. “We start organizing as soon as we get to the redezvous. Ehlrhia has yet to respond to our transmission, but it was just sent so we have a little leeway. Hopefully nothing will go wrong this time.” Brell smiled and settled in to the pilot seat as Maya settled in next to the control panel and buckled up for the long ride ahead.

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

 _Sometime later on planet Earth_... “Orac, you may be safe inside the bunker for now, but I have just jumped out of a rather nice and not too inexpensive Federation shuttle.” Avon yelled into his helmet’s communicator while in a speedy free fall above the quaint prison complex in the state formerly known as Texas, “It might be prudent of you to lead me to a safe place to land where I can begin our not too small task!”

In the dark bunker, many miles away, the super computer flashed its lights in a pulsing manner as if to reflect pauses between thoughts. “In approximately two minutes you will pull the ripcord on your parachute and then proceed to veer left off into a section of the forest area that precedes the prison complex. At one thousand feet above you should be able to notice the small spread of phosphorescent plant matter in a clearing below with the aid of your night vision.” The two minutes had passed and Avon pulled the cord to his chute, violently jerking his dark clad figure into the sky. If anyone were to notice something in the sky tonight they would have only seen a black smear anomaly streaking through the moonless sky. Could have been a murder of crows for all anyone knew.

Back in the shuttle, Vila’s face glowed with worry and blue and red from the lights from the control panel as he led the craft away from the drop point. “Why can we never do these things during the day when it’s light, and I don’t have the possibilty of crashing in front of me, eh? Why?!” He began to flip switches, twist knobs, and press buttons to ready the shuttle for an automatic landing in another clearing a few miles away from where Avon would be landing. Orac chimed in through the shuttle communicator to ease Vila’s fears, “The chances that you would crash or be shot out of the sky and discovered and captured for interrogation and torture is greatly lessened by the cover of dark.” Vila’s face only grew more worried at the mention of torture. “Orac, if this is your attempt at comforting me, it is not working.”

Avon adjusted the visor with his right hand and started to scan the ground below. Not far was the faint lime green glow of the phosphorescence that was scattered about in the clearing. Funny that it was no where else to be seen in the area. Funny that Orac always knew about these things. Both hands now on the steering lines, he began to veer into descent and pulled the brakes for landing. The visor could only provide so much light for the task and no one ever said parachuting in the dark was a very bright idea. Orac knew it was the best course of action and Avon could hardly argue with his mechanical companion.

With the computer's guidance, Avon was able to make the landing without causing too much harm to himself, although a bit of a stumble would have him cursing the tangled mess he had to extract himself from. The prison was lit up like a Christmas tree and could be seen quite well from his vantage point. It wasn’t a very large building with just two floors and about thirty cell rooms, not all of which were occupied. Once free of the tangled mess, he bundled up the chute and stuffed it under a nearby bush. “Alright Orac, let’s get this done. Are you sure that this jumpsuit can mask any scannable heat signatures?” After a minute of clicks and beeps through the communicator, Orac responded, “Communications within the prison show no signs that anything is out of the ordinary on the outside perimeter, nor has the shuttle been detected. This is a low security installation with low pay, so the guards will be lax. It has occurred to me though through the interception of messages between the Federation and the prison that the extraction of this prisoner may well be a futile effort even if we succeed. I assume you have an escape plan?”

Avon, checking and adjusting the suit, flashed a white toothy grin and examined the laser pistol holstered to his right hip and the lock picking tool tucked in his left boot. The other boot concealed a knife, and he had a belt pouch that held a few tiny sticks of plastic explosive. It was enough to take out a good portion of the prison if it came down to it, of which he hoped it wouldn’t. “Always assume I have an escape plan. That is the essentiality of my survival these days.” The smile faded as a darkness crept into his eyes. “I am tired of simply surviving and if what you say is true then this prisoner might be able to alleviate some stress and give all of us some much warranted rest until we figure out our next move.”

Convinced that he was ready for phase two, Avon perked up. “How much do we know about this prisoner? From the information you have gathered it seems like we are chasing yet another ghost into yet another trap.” The darkness returned. Orac, hesitating again responded, “I can determine that the prisoner is a female native of a planet called Biomenae. Her name is Maya, and has been under guard for some time after having been apprehended on Earth in an attempted prisoner heist by a group of nasty local insurgents called the Grey Warders. Most of the group, numbering twenty on this particular occasion a few years ago, made an attempt on what was then a fairly decent guarded prison in the midwest section of the former United States of America. They came in on two ships, one called the Narkissos from an unknown origin and the other a stolen Federation minicruiser. I speculate that they both traveled from Biomenae. The attempt was to destroy the complex and release its prisoners to join their cause, but a mole was revealed thus enabling the decimation of the group.” Avon crinkled his face, “If the Federation was meant to eradicate this group then why was the woman spared?” Orac grunted, “Oh, they did try. According to the reports, she is very skilled in the art of war, but the curious thing is is that although she was badly injured as her comrades fell around her, the reports coming in from any surviving troops, of which there were three of the fifty posted, state that when the remaining troopers moved in to for the execution, her eyes began to glow and what could only be described as a shock wave of light and sound radiated from her position. This anomoly tore through the troops that were close by and any remaining comrades she had left. The surviving three managed to then reach her unconscious body and make capture.”

Avon’s brow furrowed and a flash of concern covered his face. “Alien then. And a strange one at that. Who were some of the other members of this group? Did they have a leader?” Orac continued on as Avon started toward the prison. “There was no Identification on any of the bodies recovered after the event save for one. The name given as the leader of the group was a human called Brell Breton. His records show many other disturbances that he had been attributed to. Mainly that of arms dealing, thievery, and political misconduct. His father, Ruan Breton, is another known nuisance in the resistance, and was know throughout the years to attack and evade certain Federation targets. There is little information on file for this man. Many of these events appear to have happened while we were in league with Blake and the others. Whether or not the two men ever knew each other I cannot say.” Avon grinned at Blake’s mention, “Oh, I think even if Blake had known, he probably would have never told us.”

The wind started to pick up and cut through the forest that Avon made his way through. About two hundred feet from the prison complex stood a ten foot tall electrified fence with the entry gate at the center. In front was a small shelter that housed two guards. The threat of rain flashed in the sky as lightning and thunder crept in from the south. The weather had eerily perfect timing for what was about to happen. A timid static-laden Vila came through on the communicator. “Avon? Do you read me? Are you there yet? I think it’s going to rain. Do you need any help? I mean, I can help from here, I think.” Avon continued to creep through undetected via forest shadows and noise. “No thank you Vila, just mind the time and when Orac initiates the shutdown be sure to be ready for us. Assuming, of course, that everything goes off without a hitch.” Back at the shuttle Vila shook his head, “Yeah right. When does that ever happpen for us?”

About one hundred feet from the front gate, Avon activated a switch on the jumpsuit causing it to appear blurry, though not quite invisible. The gate lights flickered in the lightning as he sprinted up to the entry shelter and knelt down below the window where the unsuspecting guards looked out at the foreboding weather. They checked the surveillance cameras for any unusual occurances, but to no avail. Quietly through the communicator Orac began a countdown of, “3... 2... 1... initiate prison power failure.” The entire prison’s lighting system went down, but not before dimmer red backups could take over. It was enough. Avon pulled the blade from his boot and as the guards left the shelter to investigate the outer perimeter he leapt up behind them stabbing one in the neck and slicing the other from ear to ear. The bodies crumpled to the ground where the first wave of rain began to wash the blood away. A few more guards burst out of the main entry to find out what was happening. Avon found a shadow to hide in and waited for them to pass and then snuck in behind before they could find the corpses.

“I’m in, Orac. Which way?” Avon hid in the dimly lit entrance behind a door and awaited instruction. “There is only one corridor that leads into the main cell area and control center. There are ten more guards rushing around and you will only have about fifteen minutes to complete the task before they realize that the weather did not cause this.” Avon slid the knife back into his boot and pulled the laser pistol from his hip, “Orac, they will realize the weather did not do this when they find the dead guards, of which I am sure they already have.” He readied the pistol in front of him and ran down the main corridor. “You are looking for cell number R1. Take the emergency stairs to the upper level and go to the opposite end of that corridor. That will be Maya’s cell on the left. The door has a magnalock, but the tools that Vila has provided will be able to help.”

The guards were too preoccupied running around trying to make sense of things to notice a shadowy blur in the hall. Avon reached cell R1, tucked the pistol back in his hip holster, and began working on the lock. Within a few clicks the door opened and he bolted inside, quickly closing it behind him. He removed his helmet and through the red emergency lights saw Maya in a standard prison jumpsuit strapped down to the center of the floor in a ten by ten foot square room that lacked furnishings. “I’ve found her Orac.” He knelt down, used the knife to cut the bindings, and moved her to a upright sitting position against the door wall. Upon further inspection for injuries or surprises, he noticed a small round implant embedded into her left temple. “Orac, they have something in her brain. Can you speculate what it might be?” Orac, clicked and buzzed for awhile much to Avon’s dismay. “ORAC! We are running out of time! Get Vila moving and tell me what this is!” His yelling seemed to stir Maya. “It is damper meant to keep unruly prisoners docile. It can be safely removed by simply pulling it out. She will regain consciousness soon after. With his right hand and thumb and forefinger he pulled and a series of bloody wires slid out. He pocketed the implant.

Maya jerked awake, eyes wide in pain and confusion. She made eye contact with Avon and clumsily, yet quickly, shifted away to process what was happening. Pleadingly she gestured to him, “Are you... you’re not a guard. You’re not dressed like a guard. Are you killing or saving me?!” Avon carefully moved closer noting her distress, “Saving, but that will soon be worth nothing if the guards reach us. Can you run?” A wild grin covered her face, “Friend, I am ready to destroy them.” In slight hesitation at the remark, he handed her the bloody knife. “Don’t worry, there will be a time and a place for that.” He put the helmet back on, re-opened the door and check the hall for guards. “Orac, is Vila on his way?” There was no response and Maya did not wait for Avon to lead on and scampered down the hallway barefoot. He didn’t have a chance to stop her and muttered a curse as he followed suit. Orac finally came through the static to tell Avon that Vila would be at the site in three minutes. “MAYA! The stairs!” She turned and nodded acknowledgement as he caught up and they raced down the dark stairwell to the first floor.

They burst out of the door to an audience of four guards that, upon seeing the escaped prisoner, opened fire with blast rifles. They barely had enough time to duck back behind the thick metal door as it became littered with gun fire. “You! Do have any grenades?” Maya held out a hand to receive one, but Avon shook his head. “Well, do you have anything that explodes?!” He removed a stick of plastic explosive from the belt pouch and handed it to her. She dropped the knife, and rolled up the gummy substance into a small ball and held in in both hands for a few seconds. Avon could have sworn that it started glowing. “I need a few shots for cover.” He reached around the door and randomly fired, nicking a few guards. Maya knelt around the corner and chucked the ball in down the hall. The guards had no time to react when it flashed and exploded, killing them all.

At the expenditure of the amount of energy she used to charge the plastic explosive, Maya faltered and reached up to Avon for help. He quickly recovered her and they hurried through black smoke, debris, and dead guards and were able to escape out the front door. Even with her arm around his neck for support he was still able to take out two more guards with the pistol and lead them out of the gate and into the safety of darkness. Avon stopped at a tree to let Maya catch her breath. “It is not far now. Can you run on your own?” Hunched over and panting, she nodded a ‘yes’.

They ran for what felt like forever until the hum of the shuttle could be heard and its lights could be seen. Vila stood at the back hatch with a stern look on his face until they were inside. He punched the closing mechanism and rushed back to the cockpit to prepare for liftoff. Avon removed his helmet and he and Maya buckled in behind Vila and they let out a collective sigh of relief. “So, is this our new friend? Pleased to meet you! I’d introduce more formally, but according to this bright flashing light right here,” Vila pointed at he shuttle control panel, “the prison finally figured out the power situation and called for back up. I think we should leave this place now, unless we want to be personally greeted by our old friend, Servalan. Orac gave me the coordinates to the bunker, so I guess we’ll take a rest there before leaving again.” Avon was silent and staring at Maya who had just passed out in her seat. A bit of blood was seeping out of the wound on her head where the implant had been. He didn’t notice its color before in the cell because of the red lights, but the blood was purple.

Once leveled out in the air it didn’t take them long to return to the bunker where Orac was hiding. Vila landed the shuttle with ease and killed the power on the craft. Avon unbuckled the sleeping woman and lifted her into his arms. Vila grabbed the equipment from the heist and the three entered the small, battered bunker. At the center, Orac glowed like a homing beacon and requested immediate uplink with Maya. “NO!” Avon snapped, motioning for Vila to drag an old cot over, “That can wait. I need to clean this wound, and then a moments rest would not come unwelcome.” Vila dusted off the cot as Avon lay Maya down. Vila brought two chairs over, shivered and wrung his hands together from being exposed to the now falling cold rain. “Orac, does this place have heating? I think my fingers might freeze off!” Orac grunted at the simple request and the antiquated ventilation system roared to life and soon cycled heat in. Avon grabbed two tattered blankets from a rickety storage shelf nearby and tossed one at Vila and covered Maya with the other. “If you will not allow me to uplink with this creature then at least let me scan the implant you have in your pocket. It may be able to provide information especially if it was used to monitor and control thought.” Avon scowled at Orac’s urgency in the matter, but realized that more information could only be useful. He placed the implant on Orac’s scan plate and the super computer closed itself off to do its research. Vila wrapped the blanket around his shivering frame and looked over at Avon who took his seat to clean Maya’s wound. When you work or travel with someone for so long you start to get a sense of how another feels or thinks. Even though Avon’s face was a constant mask of unreadability, Vila could always tell when something was on his mind. He was, after all, the closest thing he had to a friend.

“So are you going to tell me what’s wrong or do I have to wait it out of you?” Avon actually gave a grin at Vila’s query, but that soon faded away. “To tell the truth, I don’t know.” He finished dabbing blood from Maya’s head with the blanket that covered her. “I think...” he had started to speak when suddenly Maya started talking in her sleep. Or was it humming? It had a distinct melodic flow to it, but the curious thing that grabbed the attention of the two men was the gradual increase of colors that appeared and began swirling above her as she hummed the unknown tune. They sat and stared, frozen in fear or amazement. A wide smile returned to Avon’s face, he turned to look at Vila, and Vila turned to Avon, “I think... that we are in for an interesting adventure.”

END PART 1


End file.
